Heaven and Hell for Zoe Rose Kane
by ZoeRoseJackson13
Summary: Zoe Rose Kane has had good and bad times in her life. Starting with the fact that her parents gave her up for her safety and she has been living with a different name and a different family since she was 5 years old. The only people who know that she is really Zoe and that she is alive are her parents, Ruby and Julius Kane, their friend, Scott, and her adopted mother, Barb Janiak.
1. The Beginning of Everything (Prologue)

_**This is a new story that I have been developing in my head for a while now and I feel like it's time to share it with the world. Just a heads up, I'm sorry if I change up the events of the book like with what they say but I'm adding a bunch of characters so it's going to happen. Sorry. I will not give up on this story. No matter how long it is in between updates. I will not give up on it! And just a warning to those out there that know me, yes I may have used names from people at school but this means nothing! And I mean it! I was just too lazy to come up with a bunch of names and then try to keep the characters straight. It's easier this way for me. Enjoy!**_

 _ **P.S- This first chapter is more of a pologue that will layout a few important events that affect the main characters life. The story will be more structured and will develop slower after this first chapter.**_

 _ **~ZoeRoseKane13**_

* * *

 _ **~ Chapter 1 ~**_

Zoe Rose Kane. That's my birth name. Autumn Lynn Hobrock. That's my adopted name, the one I've been called my entire life. I'm 18 years old right now and my life is heaven. Although it's not exactly what I thought it would end up being, I still love it anyway and I would never change it or give it up for anything in the entire world. However, this story is going to begin when my life slowly started going to hell and then it took a complete nosedive into the deepest parts of the duat. It all started when I went to sleep on June 13, 2007. The day of my 7th birthday...

"Goodnight Autumn. Happy birthday," my mom said as she kissed my forehead goodnight, turned off the light, and stood in the doorway.

"Thanks mommy. Goodnight, I love you!" I said as I hugged the stuffed dolphin I had gotten as a gift that day.

"I love you, too sweetie. Now get a goodnight's sleep. We're going to Knights Action Park tomorrow. You don't want to be tired for that now, do you?" my mom said as she closed the door and I was left all alone in the dark with my thoughts.

Usually I can go to sleep almost right away, but for some reason, tonight I couldn't. I couldn't fall asleep as easily tonight because I couldn't shake the feeling I got when I called my mom, well, mom. It was like that wasn't her name, like I wasn't supposed to call her that. I had had this feeling before but I had never thought much of it until now. I found myself clutching the heart locket and symbol of Nepthys that I had received for my 5th birthday. I had never been able to open the locket for some reason so I didn't know what exactly was on the inside of it. On the outside of it, there was a weird symbol that I didn't know, but I knew that it was important to me. I just didn't know how. The symbol of Nephthys was Egyptian, I knew that much. I didn't know why my mom had given it to me though. She wasn't Egyptian. She was raised as a Catholic Christian. She had told me that it was often recognized as a symbol of protection in the Egyptian culture so I took it for what it was and thanked her. I decided that I had dwelled on my thoughts long enough and I cleared my head of everything. I hoped to have good dreams about anything as long as it was good. Unfortunately, as soon as I fell asleep, the nightmare that was my untold life, began.

* * *

 _I was standing on a deck with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The sun was setting and it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. After I looked around, I realized that I wasn't alone. There was a couple that was watching 2 little kids play on the beach. They were one of the oddest couples I had ever seen. They were young, first off. Compared to my mom, they were probably a few years younger than her at the least. The woman had blonde hair and had really pale skin for living in California (I think that's where we are at least). The man on the other hand was bald, and had really dark skin. Almost like that of an African American. I couldn't see what they looked like at first but then they turned around so I could actually see their faces. I gasped when I saw them. The woman's eyes were blue. Exactly the same amazing blue as mine. Together, I looked like them. I had features of them both and my natural skin tone was almost right in the middle of theirs. I looked more like the woman though because I had blonde hair, too. I walked closer to them and I realized that the woman was crying._

 _"It's her birthday, Julius. I remember now. The letter Barb sent us about her oldest daughter, it wasn't to brag about her. It was to tell us that she is okay. Autumn is our daughter and that's not her real name. She's seven. She is our first born. How can you not remember her Julius!? I remember there was an attack but no one around here remembers the first 5 years of her life either! It doesn't make sense. Something happened and we more than likely sent her away to be safe but why not Carter and Sadie, too? Julius, it hurts. Knowing she's out there and she doesn't know us and we don't remember her very well. Why?" Said the woman in a frantic rant._

 _"It'll be okay Ruby. I'm sorry I don't remember her. If your right then whoever we trusted her with must have done a very good job at erasing the first 5 years of her life. That sounds bad but we probably did it for her own good to protect her. We just can't remember and in your case you just can't remember everything. You probably are remembering things and I'm not because of your divination power. That might be what's making you remember. Everything will be okay one day." Said Julius as he comforted Ruby by giving her a hug._

 _"I know. It's just so hard." Ruby said as she got out of Julius' grasp and looked up to the sky where the stars were beginning to come out and the moon was beginning to rise. "Zoe Rose Kane, I know that's your name because I can feel it. If you can hear me then I want you to know that we love you. Mommy and daddy love you with all of our hearts."_

 _"We always have and we always will," Julius continued._

 _"No matter if you are Autumn or Zoe, whichever name you go by, we will always love you. Hopefully our ancestors are looking after you as they scatter in the night sky and watch over the world with the moon. May we watch over you one day, too. Years from now I hope," Ruby said as she took a picture out of her pocket so that both her and Julius could see it._

 _I didn't want to believe it but I had no choice other than to believe it after I saw the picture they were holding. I was already crying because of everything they had said but the truth had sent me over the edge. I didn't know who I was anymore. I didn't even think that my hair color was supposed to be what it was now considering that my name isn't what it is. It wouldn't surprise me if anything else is different about me either that I don't know. All I know is that my entire life just got turned upside down and back again. It was all because the picture Ruby was holding was a recent one of me from just last week, but in the picture my hair was brown. I was adopted and my birth parents were standing right in front of me. I wasn't even technically adopted if they had given me away to someone to protect me! That was more like a witness protection program than adoption._

* * *

 _Before I could call to them, the scene changed and I was swept into what automatically felt like a nightmare. I was running somewhere late at night and I couldn't see all too much. I could tell that I was wearing a blue cloak and these weird - yet, comfortable - blue clothes. My mind mixed with the mind of the me in the nightmare and I figured out that I was in London and I was 10 years old. I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn't realize that I had come up on my destination and again, I wasn't alone. My birth parents stood in front of this really tall pointy thing that my older mind told me was an Egyptian obelisk named Cleopatra's Needle. My parents were just staring at it and holding hands when I came up behind them and got their attention._

 _"You can't do this! You can't!" I said out of breath as I stopped right behind them. I didn't know what I was saying and that was when I realized that I was living out something that was going to happen. Something that had already been planned to happen in my future. So, whether I knew what I was saying or not, I was still speaking. I decided to focus more on what was going on rather than what to say next because I did not want to forget this dream (I am pretty smart and observative for a 7 year old, if you couldn't tell)._

 _"Zoe? Is that you? What are you doing here? You can't be here!" My mother said as she and my father turned around. My mother came to kneel in front of me and she grabbed my arms while she looked at my face in wonder._

 _"It's me, mom. I'm here because you can't do this! Neither of you can! If you go through with this then... then... gods I'm not even supposed to say this, but we lose you mom. If you two go through with this then we lose you and I don't think that it's worth it. I haven't even gotten a chance to truly be me again because he's still after me." I said as I began to bawl. My mother pulled me into a deep hug and I gladly accepted it. My father came to kneel beside my mother. He looked in shock with the fact that I was there and with what I had just said. They both had tears in their eyes. They wanted to question what I meant by someone being after me and I wanted to know too but they decided not to touch on the subject._

 _"Zoe...how did you know that we would be here? How did you know that any of this was going to happen? Are you sure that you saw something happen to your mom? Gods, I can't believe that you're here! How did you remember everything? We thought you didn't even remember being, well, you!" My dad said in disbelief._

 _"I'm your daughter. How do you think that I already know what you guys are doing? And how do you think I remembered everything! My powers are stronger than Scott's and his spell was overpowered. I can tell you this though. Tonight, you set the stage for everything to happen, but it's not your stage that you set. You set the stage for me, Sadie, and Carter." I said. Everything that I was saying was confusing me more and more. I didn't know what I was saying. All I knew was that there was more to my birth family than I knew and somehow, I have the ability to learn about the future. I didn't want to wake up because when I did I was going to have some questions for Barb._

 _"Divination. That's how you know. It's strong isn't it? I have never been able to see that well but you can, can't you? I'm sorry that you inherited my divination. I would never wish that upon you." my mother said. I only nodded my head yes in response._

 _"Sweetie, you have to get out of here." my dad said as he took my hand._

 _"No, I'm not leaving." I said as I stood my ground as best as I could._

 _"Yes, you have to leave. You know that you do. I know you want to stay but you know that you could be hurt. I don't want you to get hurt. That's the last thing that I want to happen to you. Can you answer me something?" my dad asked me as he took my hands in his and held them to his chest as he kneeled in front of me._

 _"Depends on what you have to ask me. There are certain things that I can't answer and to be honest, I may not have even seen it. Mom can back me up on this." I said as I sniffed from previously crying. What puzzled me was the word divination. What was it? Why did I have it? Why was I saying that I had "seen" things? And what was this talk of seeing the future? But then it hit me. I was seeing the future right now. This is something that will happen to me when I am 10. This is the future. The previous place I had been in my dream with my parents was the present. I was really starting to worry that I was going crazy but then I went over everything that had happened so far and I realized that it was all too crazy to be made up. I was seeing my life and I had to deal with it and just go with it._

 _"Is everything going to turn out okay in the end? When all of this is over? Are you, Sadie, and Carter going to be okay?" my dad asked me._

 _"We'll be alive if that's what you're worried about. Carter and Sadie will miss people we lose but I will never be the same with all of the things that are supposed to happen to me. I don't think there will ever be a time I will be mentally okay again but I still have hope. What you do tonight sets the future for our family, including Amos. As much as I don't want you to do this, you have to. It's the only way to save the world. Even if it means I have to go through the things I have seen in my future." I explained as I began to cry again. My mom and dad didn't say anything. They wrapped me in a big hug instead and for a few moments we were a family. It felt so good to be with them but I knew that it would be short lived. Before anything else could happen, my dream changed yet again._

* * *

 _I was running and freaking out in my mind when the scene became clear. I sorted through my mind real quick and I could tell that it was Christmas Eve and I was 16. I looked down at myself as I ran and I was wearing something weird. I had on fake leather black combat boots and these dark greyish blue tattered and ripped jeans. My shirt was a water blue tunic that had a silver rope tied around it and the sleeves were like those on a normal t-shirt. I was still wearing my locket and my charm necklace but I had another necklace that I didn't recognize on as well and my hair was French braided into a ponytail and it was very long. What freaked me out though was that I had these blue highlights in my brown hair. Why I had them I didn't know but it must have been important to me otherwise I wouldn't have dyed my hair. It was even weirder because my hair is blonde not brown so I'm not sure what happened there. I had this cloak on that hooked around my neck and it was also water blue. It gave me the feeling of what being Red Riding Hood would be like. I began to sort through my mind again and didn't find much. I knew that I was running through the British Museum in London but there was something really big that I could tell I was hiding from myself. The weirdest thing was that my 16 year old self in the dream seemed to have the name of Zoe Rose Kane. That freaked me out even more because if that was true, then that means that I have been living a lie for most of my life. I did not like that fact one bit at all. I decided to just go with the dream and stop trying to find out because if I knew myself like I think I did then I wasn't going to get anywhere with searching._

 _I turned a corner and there was an archway that had blue light streaming out of it and whatever it was, I knew that it wasn't good. I ran even faster than I had been before and in no time I came to stand in front of the archway. In the room was my family, well everyone except Amos and my mom. My dad was in the middle with a podium in front of him that held the Rosetta Stone and a blue, glowing circle around him. He had this weird boomerang thing in his hand. Come to find out from my dream self, the thing that he was holding was a magic wand and the blue circle around him was a protective circle to protect him and keep people out. Not but 3 or 4 feet in front of me stood 2 kids who had their backs to me. They looked like grown up versions of the children I had seen on the beach earlier in my dream because they had their backs to me, too. Once again, come to find out that these two kids are my brother, Carter Kane (age 14), and my sister, Sadie Kane (age 12)._

 _My attention was ripped away from them when all of a sudden, my dream-self (let's call her Zoe) remembered why they were there in the first place and looked at what my dad was doing. He was writing on the Rosetta Stone with his magic wand and whatever he was writing was glowing blue. Zoe reached out and closed her eyes and pictured herself grabbing a wand of her own. Then she opened her eyes and there was a wand in her hand. The 7 year old me started flipping out because it had just appeared out of nowhere while Zoe looked at Sadie and Carter to make sure that they couldn't see her. Zoe lifted up the wand in front of her and waited. All of a sudden, my dad said "Woseer I-ei" which I somehow knew meant "Osiris, come..." and then a bunch of things happened at once. Sadie had apparently knew what he had said, too because she reacted by yelling "No! Dad, no!" out to our dad as he turned around in response to her voice. Zoe whispered "Nephthys, come..." as she started to shed silent tears, and with her free hand she grabbed the two necklaces that were around her neck and held on for what seemed like dear life. My dad turned around and saw the three of us standing there. He yelled "Sadie...? Children, run! Zoe, protect them...I'm sorry that..." but he never got to finish what he was going to say because the Rosetta stone exploded and we were all thrown back off of our feet._

 _Zoe quickly got up after the dust settled and ran to hide behind the wall that was outside in the hallway. Zoe stayed close enough so that she could hear what was going on but was hidden from everyone's view. Then, Zoe thought the weirdest thing. She thought "Nephthys, are you there?" but that wasn't the weirdest thing to happen because something or someone answered her._

 _They said, "I'm here dear. Thank you for being here because otherwise I would have had to use the fire elementalist as a host and I did not want that." But then the conversation was continued._

 _"Nephthys. I have to ask you to do something for the safety of our future. You have to channel some of your spirit into Zia anyway because that's the only way that Iskandar will take any steps to protect her and we will be protected in the future. Believe me, it's really important that you do this, please." Zoe asked her. There was a pause before there was an answer._

 _"It is done. Iskandar will read her and think that she is hosting me and he will try and protect her. You do realize that we aren't at full strength now, right? I sure do hope that you know what you are doing." Nephthys replied._

 _"Trust me. I know exactly what I'm doing and yes I'm aware that we aren't at full strength but you'll thank me later." Zoe replied. It was then that she must have realized that everything had gone quiet because she stiffened and peered around the corner but just as she had, there was another blast of light and from what I could see, two people were walking away from Sadie and Carter and in the hallway I could hear the boots of security officers and the sirens of cops and ambulances. The sirens must have been going off for a long time now but I just hadn't decided to notice. Zoe waited until the two people were gone and ran over to Sadie and Carter who were both unconscious. She quickly stuck her hand out, imagined herself grabbing two piles of what seemed like cloth (one was brownish-gold and the other one was a light purple) and pulled them out of thin air once again. She unfolded them and it turned out that they were cloaks like the one she was wearing but they were different colors. She put the purple one on Sadie and the brownish-gold one on Carter. She waved her hand over them and their cloaks began to glow faintly and then the glow died. The dream once again went black after that._

* * *

 _When everything became clear, I was standing in this bedroom and there was a small desk light on with a boy sitting at a desk. He looked like he was just getting done with something because he set his pencil down and picked up a single sheet of paper and just stared at what he had done. I walked beside him so that I could see what he looked like. There was a clock that read 9 a.m. sitting on one end of the desk and a calendar that was on the wall showed that it was June 14, 2007. It was the present time and I was dreaming about a boy who was probably doing homework. The boy looked to be my age, 7, and he had blonde hair and freckles on his face. Then I realized that no one continuously stares at their homework for that long and I also thought that I had to be brought here for some reason. So that settled it, I looked at the paper he was holding._

 _What I saw surprised me, like a lot. It looked like he was holding a photograph that he had taken but he had actually drawn it. It was a picture of what looked to be him, a girl that was his age in the picture, and a little boy that looked to be about 2 or so. After I looked at it for a while, I realized that the girl in the picture looked like me when I was 16 in my previous dream(she could have been older but I wasn't sure), but minus the cloak. The boy looked to be 16, too and you could tell by the blonde hair that the boy in the picture and the boy who had drawn it were the same person. The boy and I looked like we were a couple because of the way he had his arm around my waist. The thing that scared me was that the picture looked like a family photo because I was holding the little boy like a mother would hold her son. I looked closer and realized that there was writing on the picture. There was a name above the boy that read_ "Nick Cowell" _, there was a name above me that read_ "Zoe Rose Kane" _, and there was a name beside the little boy that read_ "Luka Ezra Kane" _. Then I read the writing at the top of the picture and it scared me the most. It scared me so bad that I started to back away from the picture and shed silent tears again. The last thing I remember was thinking that I didn't want to remember anything that had happened in my dream._

* * *

I was relieved when I woke up with a jolt in my bed. I looked at the clock in my room and it read 9:05 a.m. I knew that everyone was still asleep and in all honesty, I wanted to be alone. So I cried until my mother came in my room an hour later and held me until I stopped. I didn't really want my mom to comfort me because if my dreams were right then that meant the she wasn't my mom and she was lying. I was a lie. I knew I couldn't tell anyone because they would think that I was crazy. There was one thing I couldn't stop thinking about though. The writing on the boy's paper...

 _"You never give up on family. No matter how old or young you are and no matter how much you may be judged for it. Family is always worth fighting for. Family can always be found when they may be lost. Family will always save you from the darkest places and bring you back to the light. This is my true love and my son. They are my family, along with all of my friends. I will never give up on them and I will never let go of them. They are my life, my home, and my hope. They are always worth fighting for."_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


	2. Dreams Become Reality

_**~Chapter 2~**_

Barb told me everything when I confronted her that morning, but it was nothing new because when I woke up, all of my lost memories had returned. The only new thing that she told me was that my necklace, that she had supposedly given to me on my 5th birthday, was actually from my real parents. It was enchanted to remove all spells from me that changed people's memories to forget Zoe and remember Autumn. It also removed the illusion on me that made me look like Autumn. I could remove the enchantment whenever I wanted to. All I had to do was open the locket and read the inscription inside, but I wasn't ready to do that. The amulet that I also wore was the symbol of Nephthys. The amulet was made for me by my father to protect me. To say the least, I was overwhelmed.

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and those weeks eventually turned into a year, but none of it went very fast for me. All I have done since I woke up the day after my 7th birthday is suffer because my life and what I do with it is out of my reach.

Over the past year and a half, I have been tortured emotionally and mentally with no one knowing. Barb and I may have known who I really am, but no one else remembers that Zoe ever existed. Not even my parents who raised me for the first 5 years of my life. I have been going to school everyday with my 2 best friends since birth, Mckenzee and Trey Perry (they're twins), and they don't even know who I really am, but I know exactly who they are and it hurts.

I was okay with it all until January of 3rd grade, when Nick Cowell, my bestest friend of all time, walked in the classroom door. We spent everyday together when we were little kids. Our families were so tight, that we saw each other almost every day. We lived halfway across the country from each other but that doesn't matter because with magic, distance doesn't mean anything.

 **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~December 24, 2010.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I couldn't sleep. Something was off, but I couldn't decide what it was. My day had been perfect. It was another Christmas Eve that had come and passed like normal. I spent it like I have every year since I was 5, with my witness protection family, if that's what you want to call it. Another Christmas was going to go by, just as uneventful as the others. I would wake up in the morning, open presents, and continue on with my life. Suffering more and more as the days go by, and the nightmares continue to come. I am still trapped. Trapped in a trap that I can't let myself out of. I continue to live a lie. That's the only way I truly remember how to live.

I tossed and turned in my bed as I still couldn't go to sleep. The nagging feeling of something horrible was still there. I looked out my window as I tried to clear my mind of all thoughts. That's when I realized how familiar the feeling was. It came to me as I jumped out of bed, put on the clothes that I could find the quickest, and grabbed my cloak. A minute later I was travelling through the duat thanks to my powers as a magician. I was more powerful than most magicians as I had two royal blood lines flowing through me.

When I came out of the duat, I entered the same scene I had entered before in my dreams. Only this time, it was real life. I remembered how confused I was when I saw this dream as a 7 year old. This time, I knew what I was doing and I knew how much I didn't want to be here. I found myself running to Cleopatra's needle, the beginning stage that would set my future in stone. Not that my future wasn't already set in stone to begin with. It was a cold Christmas Eve in London and I would have given everything to be back in my warm bed, asleep. But I couldn't let my mother go without saying, hello, I love you, and goodbye.

As I ran up behind my parents, I yelled, "You can't do this! You can't!" I was out of breath from running, but I didn't have time to catch my breath.

"Zoe? Is that you? What are you doing here? You can't be here!" My mother said as she and my father turned around. My mother came to kneel in front of me and she grabbed my arms while she looked at my face in wonder.

"It's me, mom. I'm here because you can't do this! Neither of you can! If you go through with this then... then... gods I'm not even supposed to say this, but we lose you mom. If you two go through with this then we lose you and I don't think that it's worth it. I haven't even gotten a chance to truly be me again because he's still after me." I said as I began to bawl. My mother pulled me into a deep hug and I gladly accepted it. My father came to kneel beside my mother. He looked in shock with the fact that I was there and with what I had just said. They both had tears in their eyes. This time, I knew what I meant when I said that he was still after me. Vladimir Menshikov, leader of the 18th Nome, had been after me since I was born. My father and him were practically enemies, but that's not the only reason he wants to capture me. The only thing is, I don't even know that reason and neither does Barb. All I know is that the reason isn't a good one and that I have to stay hidden, or he will find me. The attack on my house when I was 5, was his attack on my father to try and take me from him. I was erased from everyone's minds so that no one could tell him where I was. He wanted me, but my family wasn't going to let him have me, at any cost. My parents new better than to go any further on the subject.

"Zoe...how did you know that we would be here? How did you know that any of this was going to happen? Are you sure that you saw something happen to your mom? Gods, I can't believe that you're here! How did you remember everything? We thought you didn't even remember being, well, you!" My dad said in disbelief.

"I'm your daughter. How do you think that I already know what you guys are doing? And how do you think I remembered everything! My powers are stronger than Scott's and his spell was overpowered. I can tell you this though. Tonight, you set the stage for everything to happen, but it's not your stage that you set. You set the stage for me, Sadie, and Carter." I said. I knew what I meant when I said that Scott's spell had been overpowered. My parents had given me to Scott, Nick's father, the night of the attack. He was the one that erased me from everyone's minds and made up Autumn. He is the only other person besides Barb and I that know the truth. He doesn't know that I know everything though.

"Divination. That's how you know. It's strong isn't it? I have never been able to see that well but you can, can't you? I'm sorry that you inherited my divination. I would never wish that upon you." my mother said. I only nodded my head yes in response.

"Sweetie, you have to get out of here." my dad said as he took my hand.

"No, I'm not leaving." I said as I stood my ground as best as I could.

"Yes, you have to leave. You know that you do. I know you want to stay but you know that you could be hurt. I don't want you to get hurt. That's the last thing that I want to happen to you. Can you answer me something?" my dad asked me as he took my hands in his and held them to his chest as he kneeled in front of me.

"Depends on what you have to ask me. There are certain things that I can't answer and to be honest, I may not have even seen it, yet. Mom can back me up on this." I said as I sniffed from previously crying. There were so many things that I wanted to tell him. I could fix the future right here and tell him what he can't and can do in the future. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. No matter how much I wanted to. Everything that happens in the future, happens for a reason. I have to believe that.

"Is everything going to turn out okay in the end? When all of this is over? Are you, Sadie, and Carter going to be okay?" my dad asked me.

"We'll be alive if that's what you're worried about. Carter and Sadie will miss people we lose, but I will never be the same with all of the things that are supposed to happen to me. I don't think there will ever be a time I will be mentally okay again, but I still have hope. What you do tonight sets the future for our family, including Amos. As much as I don't want you to do this, you have to. It's the only way to save the world. Even if it means I have to go through the things I have seen in my future." I explained as I began to cry again. My mom and dad didn't say anything. They wrapped me in a big hug instead and for a few moments we were a family. It felt so good to be with them but I knew that it would be short lived. As quick as they had wrapped me in a hug, they let go of me and I stood there alone as they turned towards the Obelisk.

My mother turned towards me one last time and said, "Run, my sweet child. Get as far away as you can from here, for you know that this does not end well. Keep your brother and sister safe for me. You will only grow from here. You are so much stronger than you know and you will come to realize this, eventually. For now baby, I love you. Stay safe, my little Rose." With that, she turned around and joined my father again.

"I love you, too mommy," I said as I turned and ran.

I found myself travelling through the duat, but I did not come out where I expected I would. When I came out, I recognized the flat in front of me, almost immediately. It was Gran and Gramp's flat. I looked in the window to see my brother and my sister asleep on the floor in front of the warm fireplace. Gran and Gramps were sitting with their backs to me on the love seat, just talking. How I wish I could be with them. I knew that for their safety and mine, I couldn't go in. Instead, I stood outside and cried for a few minutes as I felt the ripple, that was my parents doing, within the duat. I found myself travelling through the duat, yet again. This time I found myself in my room, at home. I got back into my pajamas and lied in my bed, just looking out the window as I silently cried myself to sleep. This wouldn't be the first time that I cried myself to sleep, and it certainly wouldn't be the last time either. Luckily, I was not disturbed by a nightmare, or a ba trip. This night succeeded in dragging my life even deeper into living hell. Little did I know that I hadn't even scratched the surface of living hell, yet.

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


	3. The Familiar Gift of Hope

_**~ Chapter 3 ~**_

The next morning I was awoken by Barb, who was telling me that it was time to come downstairs and open up presents. I was in and out of reality that day. I wasn't in the Christmas mood. I opened my presents, said thank you to Barb, and went back upstairs to sit in my bay window. Sometimes after I would wake up from a nightmare, I would sit in my bay window and look outside and watch the trees dance in the wind, or watch my neighbors go about their normal lives with no idea about the dangers that were hidden from them in this world. Whenever I would sit in the bay window, Barb would know that I just wanted to be left alone. She would check on me every so often and she would keep Rilee, her biological daughter, out of my room. The sun rose from the east in bright colors and sank in the west in a blaze of glory. The day had come and gone faster than I had expected it to, but I didn't care. My mother's death was the only thing on my mind. It wouldn't go away. It just kept replaying and replaying over and over again. Barb eventually came into my room and sat down next to me on the bench. She didn't say anything for awhile, she just let me cry while she held me in her arms like she had done so many times before.

"Something really bad happened last night," Barb stated as she continued to cradle me in her arms.

"That was a statement, not a question. I can't answer a statement," I said as I turned in her arms to gaze out the window once more.

"I meant for it to be a statement. I know something bad happened last night for a few different reasons. You've been in your room longer than usual after a nightmare, so that tells me that it was more than a nightmare last night. I also felt the ripple go through the duat last night. It woke me up. I went to check on you to see if it had woken you up too, and that was when I saw that you weren't in your room. Baby, what happened? I've never seen anything make you this sad and secluded. You love Christmas! You've been distant ever since you woke up this morning," Barb said as she turned me around enough in her arms to look at my face. I had been silently crying again and Barb wiped the tears off of my face as they cascaded down my cheek.

"My dream woke me up because I realized that it was in real time. I got dressed, took my cloak, and left. I went to my parents. They were at Cleopatra's Needle, the obelisk in London. I don't know exactly what they were doing and why, but whatever they did was what caused the ripple in the duat. I had a dream when I was 7 about what happened last night. I went there to try to stop them, but they kept going with their plan. I left before it happened because it was too dangerous, but I didn't make it home before the ripple went through the duat. I came out of the duat outside of GGranand Gramp's flat. I made it home after that. I'm sad because... because... she's gone. The plan cost my mother her life. She's gone and.. and I'm never gonna see her again," I said as a sob escaped my lips. Barb sat with me and cradled me in her arms for what seemed to be a long time.

I was almost asleep in her arms when a knock was heard coming from the front door. Barb sat me back down on the bench as she got up to go see who was at the door this late at night. I watched from my door way as she opened the door. I was beyond surprised when Scott and Nick walked through the door. Nick and I had started dating about a month ago. We were only in 5th grade and might have been a little too young to start "dating" but oh well. I had always dreamed about dating Nick one day but I never expected to be dating him as Autumn. My childhood best friend, now boyfriend, still didn't know who I really was. For all I know, he thinks Zoe is dead. Thinking of this made me cry again so I hid behind the wall in the living room so Scott and Nick didn't see me. I was playing my rare shy card.

"What are you two doing here so late at night?" Barb asked as she shut the door behind them.

"Well, I was wondering if Autumn was awake. I have a Christmas gift for her and I didn't want to wait till Christmas break was over to give it to her. We also came because my dad said he needed to talk to you about something," Nick said as he looked around the room to see if I was anywhere to be found. I didn't wait for Barb to reply to him. I walked out from behind where I was hiding and walked up to Nick. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug because I just needed to feel that he was real. He was one of the only people that made me feel like I was me. I acted like Zoe around him because it felt normal and natural. He was one of the few connections I still had to my old life, and those connections were beginning to dwindle down. He was surprised by the sudden show of affection, but he also knew that I just needed a hug sometimes. I had told him about a few of my nightmares before, so he knew how bad they were and how much they affected me. He had no idea how much I truly depended on him being there for me. He didn't understand just how much he meant to me. I know I'm only 10 years old, but I'm more of an adult than people realize. I understand more about life than a normal 10-year-old does.

After a little while, Nick pulled away from me and wiped away the few stray tears that had managed to escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks. "What's wrong? It's Christmas! You love Christmas! No one should be crying on Christmas. Did you have another nightmare? Are you okay?" Nick asked as he looked me over to make sure I was alright. His genuine concern made me laugh. It was good to know that someone other than Barb cared so much about me.

"I'm fine Nick. I had another nightmare, that's all. It was that reoccurring one I told you about. The one at Cleopatra's Needle in London," I said as I looked down at my feet to gather myself before I started crying again.

"The one with the Kane's? Autumn, that actually happened last night. That's what my dad wanted to talk to your mom about. Julius is fine, but Ruby, she... she died, Autumn. We don't know what's going to happen to Sadie and Carter yet, but we do know that their grandparents don't want them to be with their dad. So many bad things have happened to that family. First Zoe dies, and now Ruby's gone, too. I don't think Sadie and Carter even remember their sister. They were too young to remember her when she disappeared. She's been gone so long that she's been presumed dead," Nick explained. I froze when he started to talk about Zoe. Hearing him talk about me, to my face, was weird in ways that just aren't normal. I was glad that he remembered that I existed, but it broke me to think that he thought I was dead. It broke me into even more pieces when he said that Sadie and Carter don't even remember me. I was hoping that they remembered me and they thought that I was dead, but to know that they don't even remember that I exist was heart-wrenching.

"That's horrible," I said as I started shaking from the effort to keep from sobbing. Scott and Barb saw my effort to stop from crying. Scott knew that he needed to distract Nick so that I could cry.

"Nick, why don't you go get Autumn's present out of the truck," Scott said as he opened the door. Nick gave me a quick smile before he turned towards the door and exited to go retrieve my present out of his dad's truck. As soon as Nick exited through the door, Scott closed the door behind him and Barb caught me as I fell in a heap on the floor, bawling my eyes out. Scott soon spotted Nick making his way back to the front door. Barb helped me stand up and wiped the remaining tears off of my cheeks.

Nick came back inside holding a small box that had a ribbon wrapped around it. He gave it to me and stepped back, waiting to see my reaction as I opened the tiny present. I untied the ribbon and let it gracefully float to the ground. I opened the box to reveal a small ring. It wasn't just any ring, though. This ring was the ring my father had given to me for my 1st birthday. It was a silver band that had the sun and the moon interlocked. My father had always told me that it represented the moments he would be watching over me in life, which was always. It was enchanted to always fit me, no matter what ring size I would grow to be. It was also enchanted to stay on my finger, so I could never lose it. I could take the ring off of my finger willingly, but It would never fall off of my finger. I had given it to Scott the night of the attack when I was 5. My friends would have been able to recognize me because they knew that I always wore it. Why Nick was giving it to me now, I had no clue, but I didn't care because I was ecstatic to have it again. I stared, motionless at the ring for a few minutes and I guess Nick began to think that I didn't like the gift as he began to sway awkwardly back and forth.

"I don't know if you like to wear rings or not, but I thought of you when I saw this ring. You don't..." Nick said until I interrupted him.

"Nick, I love it. You have no idea how much this means to me," I said as I took the ring out of the box, put it on my finger, and wrapped him in a bear hug. I didn't want to let go. The fact that the ring made him think of me gave me hope that he would one day figure out who I really was, without me having to remove the spell.

Once I had let go of Nick, we sat down in the living room on the couch and talked about the gifts that we had gotten for Christmas, while Barb and his father talked about the accident last night. It was the first time that I had been happy since I woke up that morning. I felt normal with him. I felt like Zoe again. Having my ring back meant the world to me. I had gotten back a piece of me that had been taken away. Slowly, things were starting to go my way. I could see the tiny light at the end of the dangerous, dark tunnel. However, the tunnel was going to get much, much darker before I reached the light.

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


	4. Shit Gets So Much Worse

_**~ Chapter 4 ~**_

The already dark tunnel became even darker my Freshmen year of high school. Nick and I were still together after years of dating. We were practically just best friends with a title that said we were dating because we hadn't even kissed yet. It was good to have him by my side because he kept me true to myself and he also reminded me of who I really was. He gave me hope that I would someday be able to remove my necklace, open the locket, and go back to being Zoe. Instead of having an entirely different attitude and personality, Nick has brought out the Zoe in me that I tried to suppress for so many years. I'm acting more and more like myself every day and am almost forgetting that I actually am someone else. I almost feel like I am living as Zoe and not Autumn, especially when Nick's around. He and my ring are the only links I have to my past at the moment, besides my memories of course. I was lost deep in thought about this when Nick noticed me spacing out. We were sitting at our normal lunch table with our friends in the cafeteria. We had all decided to stay and eat at school today, instead of going our separate ways to eat with our families. It was also winter and happened to be cold and snowy outside so none of us were exactly willing to go outside at the moment. I felt Nicks gaze burning through my skin when his hand touched mine and yanked me from the deep universe that is my thoughts.

"Hey... Are you okay? Earth to Autumn... Baby girl snap out of it! Jesus Christ, you sure know how to get lost in your own universe." Nick said as he finally brought me back to planet high school.

"I'm fine, Sunshine. I just got lost in my head. Again. It's my escape mechanism when I feel overwhelmed." I said as I saw the worry that was laced throughout the green of his eyes.

"Are you sure? You may have been off in deep space, but I recognized that look. You were thinking about them again, weren't you? Your nightmares and dreams of the family with the missing daughter?" he asked as he watched my facial expression closely. I couldn't hide my nightmares from him. He knew when I had one because my entire demeanor changed into a much more serious one than normal. I also couldn't hide them from him because I couldn't exactly explain why I would wake up from naps with him covered in sweat, sobbing, and screaming my head off. I am pretty sure the only explanation for that is a nightmare. I told him of some of my memories too from before because he would sometimes catch me talking in my sleep about my family or even drawing them in my notebook. He was right though, I had been shifting my nightmares in and out of my thoughts. I couldn't help but feel that something about today was oddly familiar. Almost like deja vu.

"I'm fine. It's just that something feels off to me." I said as I tried to turn my attention back to the horrible school food that was sitting on the orange tray in front of me.I was about to pick up the apple that I had added to my lunch when I noticed that a silent hush went throughout the entire lunch room.

I observed my surroundings. My senses were on high alert. I noticed that all of the students around me were gaping at a scene that was unfolding on the stairs behind me. Everything in my being was telling me not to turn around. I sneaked a side glance at Nick to see if he had caught up on what was going on. His features were graced with nothing but pure horror. Slowly, his features began to morph into an expression I knew all too well. It was the expression of an overprotective sibling that wanted nothing more than to help whoever was in trouble at the moment. I remember seeing that expression on him when we were younger. It was something that I loved about him. I saw his lips move as he exhaled the only thought that was currently on his mind. I could barely make out the word that escaped his mouth but there was no mistaking what it was. The expression and his demeanor all made sense now. As did the feeling of uneasiness that I had gained moments ago. Against my will, I turned around to face one of the worst nightmares that I had ever had. As I took in the scene before me, I could do nothing but gape at first. Then the same overprotective expression emerged all over my facial features and even seeped into my posture. I registered movement beside me and saw Nick begin to rise out of his seat and take action. I quickly put my hand on his and motioned for him to sit down. He didn't want to listen to me, but then he saw the expression on my face and the look in my eyes. I knew he recognized the look right away as it was one that I would give to him when we were kids and he was going to act irrationally. I knew that he had put the pieces together and realized I was Zoe as he began to look between me and the ring that I wore on my left ring finger. He hesitantly sat back down and waited for my instructions. He was aware that I knew what was going to happen and what needed to be done about it. I leaned over and whispered into his ear "I've got this. This is my problem and my problem only. I have to be the one to fix it. Just promise me that you will protect everyone in case something goes wrong."

As I pulled away to look at his face, he took my hands in his and gently kissed my knuckles. As he did so, he mouthed "I promise" against my knuckles before he released my hands. He gave me a look that I recognized all too well. It screamed " Don't get hurt. Please come back to me in one piece." I only looked at him with a sad smile because I couldn't do that. I was afraid I already knew that I wasn't going to make it out of this situation. At least not that I was aware of.

I turned my gaze back to the stairs. In the middle of the three sectioned stairs stood Vladimir Menshikov. The one and only idiot Russian who had been after me since I was five. He was the reason that my life had been torn apart. He was the reason that I was ripped away from my family. He was the reason that I was living nothing but a lie. He was the reason everything went wrong. I would have killed him on the spot but there were a few things that were preventing me from doing so. First off, there were bodyguard magicians on the stair sections beside Vladimir. Second off, I was in a cafeteria filled with tons of innocent high school mortals. Most importantly, he was in possession of one of my few weaknesses. He held an unsuspecting, unknowing, 10-year-old hostage in front of him as a shield. He also had a knife that threatened to slit the throat of the innocent hostage if anything threatened the power position he knew that he currently held over me. The hostage also happened to be none other than...

"Sadie..."

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


	5. The Trade

_**~ Chapter 5 ~**_

 _The hostage also happened to be none other than..._

 _"Sadie..."_

* * *

"Sadie..." I exhaled as I stared at my baby sister. Tears began to form in the corner of my eyes as I watched my little sister stand there helplessly in Vladimir's arms. I wanted nothing more than to rush Vladimir and pry her from his hands, but if I did that, he would hurt her before I could reach them. My friends at the round lunch table saw the look in my eyes and saw the tears silently streaming down my cheeks. They knew that something was different about me all of a sudden and that something was horribly wrong, but they knew better than to ask me. Nick placed his hand on my knee to get my attention. I didn't want to look at him because I knew that he was smart and he had figured out how the situation was going to end, or he at least had a clue. I looked him in the eyes anyway and I was saddened to be met with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. I wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be okay, but I couldn't even reassure myself of that at the moment. I was brought back to the current situation at hand as Vladimir began to speak from his position of power in the middle of the staircase.

"Most of you don't know who I am. In all honesty, I'm not even supposed to be alive, but you see, that's where the power of magic comes into play. I am Vladimir Menshikov, a Russian Egyptian magician of the 18th Nome. I am on a path of revenge. I stand here before you today in search of something that is rightfully mine. This child that I hold in my arms is my insurance policy. If I don't get what I have come here for, then this innocent little child will suffer the fate of her sister instead." Vladimir said as he kept a struggling Sadie tight in his arms with the knife still hovering dangerously close to her throat. I was pretty sure that I could see a thin red line glistening on Sadie's neck as though the blade had just barely cut through the surface of her skin. I was boiling with rage but I kept my cool so I wouldn't possibly endanger Sadie with an outburst.

Sadie was getting more scared and confused by the second. She began to struggle more and more as her brain began to cloud with fear. "I don't have an older sister, you fucking asshat! The only sibling I have is a brother named Carter and I haven't seen him in years. He's more of a cousin than a brother. Now let me go!" Sadie said. I could tell that she was getting more pissed by the second as well.

"Now, now child. Calm down. I don't want to hurt you. It's your sister that I want to hurt." Vladimir said as he grinned menacingly and chuckled evilly. I visibly winced at the pain that I knew I was yet to endure.

"For the last fucking time, I don't have a sister!" Sadie screamed as she struggled once again. The first time she claimed to not have a sister, I thought she was lying to protect me. I should have known better. I made a strangled cry as I held back a sob that threatened to escape my throat as I came to the realization that my precious baby sister really didn't remember me. Nick put his hand on my back to reassure me that everything was going to be okay. He knew how much that sentence just hurt me. He was one of few people that could see through all of my walls and could read every emotion I felt. That's just how well he knows me.

Vladimir laughed as he restrained Sadie once again. "You really don't remember her, do you? That must be breaking her little heart as she is sitting in this very cafeteria right now. She is the reason that both you and I are here in this tense situation. I've been looking for her since the day she was born. You see, your mother was injured very badly when she was pregnant with your sister. If your father didn't act quickly, then he would have lost both your mother and your sister. The only thing that could save them was an ancient spell that was passed down orally by the 18th Nome leaders. Not even the pharaoh had the power or the spell to save your mother and your sister. I was the only magician with the power to do so. I made your father promise me that if I saved his wife and daughter, he would be in debt to me. That debt was supposed to be paid the day she was born, as I had asked that the debt be repaid by handing the baby girl over to me. She was going to be the most powerful magician in the entire universe. I wanted to train her to be my soldier and I wanted to synthesize something that could make other magicians just like her. There's only one way to do that and I have everything I need to carry out my plan, except for your sister. Your father and mother went into hiding with her the day she was born. She has never been properly trained in magic, so I honestly doubt that she even knows the true potential of her powers. She's been in a magician protection system that your father set up for her since the day she was separated from you and the rest of your family. She was only 5 -years-old at the time when I first found her and set your house ablaze. I haven't been able to find her since that day 9 years ago, until now. She got careless and finally ventured to check on you, your father, and your brother. That was when my people spotted her and began keeping tabs on her. Now, here we are today. Zoe Rose Kane, I know that you're in this cafeteria. Show yourself, surrender, and come with me. If you do so, then your sister will leave here unharmed and so will the rest of your classmates." Vladimir ended as he laid down his final ultimatum.

I was shocked. I never knew the true story about why Vladimir was after me. My father always told me that Vladimir was after me because he had taken something special from him. I always thought that he had meant his power or a special artifact. I never knew that my father was actually referring to me. I steeled my gaze and straightened my posture as I knew what I had to do. I began to rise out of my seat when I felt a hand tug me back down. Nick was pleading me with his eyes to not go, to not give myself up to a fate that I didn't do anything to deserve. He didn't know that I had already accepted my fate. I had accepted it years ago.

"Stay. Please. You and I both know that if you give yourself up to him, you'll never be seen again. I'll never see you again. I can't lose you again, Zoe. There's another way to get rid of Vladimir and save Sadie and everyone else. There has to be another way. Please. I can't lose you. I love you." Nick whispered to me as he grasped both of my hands in his. He was crying at this point and so was I.

"Nick, I can't stay. There isn't another way. I've been thinking of another way out of this for nine years and I've only ever seen two outcomes. Either I go with him and everyone else is spared, or everyone in this building dies. I'm sorry, but you have to let go. You lost me years ago, so just think of things as normal, that Zoe is dead." I whispered as I tried to pry my hands out of the death grip that he currently had on my hands.

"You were never dead to me. Everyone always said that you were dead, but I could never bring myself to believe it. Your body was never found which meant that you could be alive out there somewhere. I just never imagined that you would be alive so close to me after all of this time. You're my soulmate. I would have felt it if you were dead. A part of me would have died, too." Nick frantically whispered as he tried to convince me to stay with him. I could see the begging and the pleading in his eyes. Every part of me told me to stay with him, to not give myself up to Vladimir. My heart told me that was the wrong thing to do.

"I don't want to give myself up. I don't want to leave you. I don't want to die, but it's not my choice. You were always the one that told me to follow my heart, Nick, and I'm gonna follow it. I love you, Nick. I've loved you all this time, with all of my heart. You reminded me every day that I was still Zoe and that one day I could possibly be her again. Today is that day. Zoe wouldn't let everyone in this room die, especially if she could do something about it. She definitely wouldn't let her family get hurt if she knew she could save them. I'm going to do just that. I'm going to be the real me one last time." I said as I looked down at our hands. I intertwined them for what would be the last time. I lifted his hands to my mouth and kissed his hands as tears fell from my eyes. I put our hands back in my lap without meeting Nick's gaze.

"I'll like you forever. I'll love you for always. As long as I'm living, my love, you'll be." I said as I brought my gaze up to rest on his own. In one quick moment of pure emotion, desperation, longing, and fear, I brought my hands up to cup his face as I pulled him in for our first and last kiss. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I pulled away from him and took my hands from his face. It was unfair. My life was unfair. Everything was unfair and I'm pretty convinced that the universe absolutely fucking hates me. The universe at least likes to torture me and make my life a living hell.

I quickly stood up before I changed my mind. I've had enough of being tossed around by the universe. I've decided that I'm going to face this challenge head on. "I'm here Vladimir. After all these years, you've finally found me and you've successfully rendered me absolutely helpless. You have my baby sister in your hands and this entire high school is at your mercy. I surrender to you. Just spare everyone else. Please." I said as I began to move towards the staircase that Vladimir was perched on. All heads turned to see where the voice was coming from and many faces were in awe that I was the source of the voice. I raised my hands to show I surrender and made my way towards Vladimir.

"After all these years. I've finally got everything I need to make the 18th Nome the most powerful Nome in the Per Ankh. Before you come up here, I want you to remove your necklace and show all of your friends who you really are. I want them to see how their supposed friend has been lying to them since they've known you." Vladimir said with an evil grin. He knew he had me by the balls right now and could make me do whatever he wanted me to. He had my baby sister and he could hurt her if I refused. No, he WOULD hurt her if I refused. I turned around to face my peers. I saw my closest friends at the lunch table. Some of the girls were crying and the boys were sitting in disbelief. Their best friend has been hiding the truth from them their entire friendship. Nick would make them understand that I had no choice, that I didn't want to keep things from them and lie to them. Speaking of, Nick was halfway out of his chair, ready to spring into action if he needed to. I brought my hands to the clasp of my necklace behind my head and proceeded to undo the clasp. I brought the chain and the locket to rest in my hands. I looked at the crest of my family one last time before I opened the locket for the first time since I had received it. As I opened the locket, there was a gush of air and magic tendrils began to exit the locket, going in miscellaneous directions and wrapping themselves around me as well. When I opened my eyes, I thought nothing had happened at first, but then I looked down at my hands and saw that my skin color had gone back to its original Californian tanned bronze. I touched my hair and brought it into my eyesight. It was my original curly, brown locks with the Everbright water blue streaks that I had missed so much over the years. I let go of my hair and realized that it was much longer than before. It was long enough that I am pretty sure it reached past my elbows, almost to my hips. That was when I remembered the locket. I looked at the inside and saw two pictures. One picture was of me as a child. I looked happy and normal. The second picture was of me and the rest of my family, which included, my mom and dad, Carter, and baby Sadie. I closed the locket and put it in my pocket, as I turned back around to make my way to where Vladimir was still standing. I didn't bother to look back at my friends. I didn't want to know their reactions and I definitely didn't want to know what they were thinking.

"Happy now?" I asked through gritted teeth as I approached Vladimir. I suddenly stopped in my tracks as a thought occurred to me. How could I be sure that Vladimir would let my sister go if I gave myself up? I needed to make sure that she would be out of harm's way before I surrendered. "I have one more condition. Before I surrender to you, let my sister go. Let me say good bye to her one last time, even if she doesn't remember me, I remember her. And I love my baby sister. I always have and I always will. Let her go and I swear on her life that I will go with you back to the 18th Nome. I'll consider this a show of good faith on your part. I gave you my show of good faith by removing my necklace and revealing my true self. Now it's your turn." I stated as I stood, unmoving.

Vladimir pondered the request before he replied, "I can respect your negotiation tactics. Very smart girl you are. I will let your sister go and you can give her to your friends, who can see that she makes it home alright. Now, dear Sadie, go say goodbye to your beloved older sister." As he finished, Vladimir took the knife away from my sister's throat and proceeded to put it back in the sheath on his belt. He released her with a little shove and Sadie came barreling down the stairs towards me, arms outstretched, tears streaming from her eyes. I began to sob into her hair as she was caught in my loving embrace. Weak with emotions, we fell to the floor on our knees, sobbing into each other's tight embrace. I cradled Sadie's head into my chest as she heaved and cried. I couldn't believe that I was holding my little sister after all of these years. I whispered encouraging words into her ear as I held her to my chest.

"Shhhhh... baby girl. Everything's going to be okay. You're safe, now. My friend, Nick, he's gonna take good care of you. He'll make sure you make it back to London unharmed. You can trust him with your life. After all, I trust him with mine." I said as I released her from my embrace just enough to look into her eyes. The sight I was met with almost broke me into pieces. My sister's eyes were not innocent and happy like I last saw when we were little. They were dull and they almost looked broken, as well. She had been through a lot, after all, and I wasn't there to be the mother figure she needed after mom died. I was going to continue when Sadie frantically began to say something that I could barely make out.

"I remember... I remember... I never forgot you I promise. I know I was only a baby, but I've had this dream where you held me and played with me and even put me to sleep. It felt like you were really there and it felt like I knew you. It felt like I had a sister. Carter, Dad, Gran, and Gramp's all told me so much about you, they told me everything there was to know about you, actually. Don't go. Please don't go with him in my place. I can't lose you again. I never got to get to know you." Sadie said as she began to sob once again.

"Sis... It's not your place I'm taking. You were never meant to go with him anywhere. I was always meant to go with him, but I've been avoiding it for years when I should have just accepted it years ago. All of this could have been avoided. I'm sorry you had to go through this. And I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." I said as I placed a hand on either side of Sadie's head, with my fingertips resting at her temples.

"What are you doing... No, don't... Zoe... Stop! Sis, you can't do this... I just met you for the first time after all of these years." Sadie struggled to say as her eyelids got heavier and heavier. I eased her to the floor as she fell deeper and deeper into a sleep spell. The spell would put her in a deep enough sleep that would allow Nick to get her back to London as if she had never been gone in the first place. She would wake up from the spell and just think that it was all a bad dream.

"I Love you, my precious baby sister. I'm so sorry. This is for your own protection. As long as you don't know about me, or magic, you'll be safe from the dangers of our family. I have to keep you away from it for as long as I can. It's the least I can do for Maman." I heaved as I cradled my sleeping sister in my arms like I used to do when I would rock her to sleep for nap time. After a few minutes of cradling Sadie, I felt someone come up next to me and rest their hand on my back. I looked over my shoulder to see Nick kneeling next to me and Sadie. There was nothing but tears and sadness in his eyes and his emotions were written all over his face. I looked back at Sadie and new that it was time for me to go. I pulled my locket out of my pocket and held it in my hands. There was no more magic left in it now, as I had released all of its magic earlier when I opened it. I undid the clasp and put the necklace around Sadie's neck. I could at least leave her with my necklace. It would be safe with her. I gave my sleeping sister to Nick, who cradled her in his arms so gingerly, you would have thought that she was a newborn child. He loved her like a sister of his own and I knew it broke him to see her in danger and in this situation, just like it broke me.

"Promise me you'll get her safely back to London. Tell Gran and Gramp's what happened. Please find my father and tell him what happened, too. It's up to him whether or not he tell's, Carter. Sadie is not to remember that this was an actual event. As far as she is to know, I'm still missing. Protect her and Carter if they ever find magic. Do as much as you can to keep them away from magic, though. Teach them how to be good magicians and how to be safe with their powers. One last request, please don't look for me. After I leave here today, forget I ever existed. It'll be safer that way. I can't have you getting hurt trying to find me, cause you won't be able to. Promise me, baby, please." I pleaded as I saw the fire in his eyes that wanted nothing more than to argue with me about my terms. I saw the fire go out as Nick took a shaky deep breath. He was giving in to my terms because he knew there was no fighting me. I wasn't going to change my mind and he knew that.

"I promise, Zoe. I promise that I will look after your siblings. I promise that I will get Sadie home safe. But I also promise that I will never stop looking for you and hoping that I see you again. I love you and nothing is ever going to change that. No matter what you say, I cannot promise you that I won't look for you. I love you too much than to just let go, even if it's what you want." He replied as we both started to silently cry again. I went to him for another kiss as I said goodbye to the love of my life. Never to see him again.

"I love you," I whispered as I turned my back on my classmates, Nick, and the sleeping girl that peacefully rested in his arms. I reached Vladimir and stood in front of him in surrender. Vladimir reached out and took me hostage in his grasp, just like he had done to Sadie earlier. I could see all of the horrific faces of my classmates as I felt the tip of the knife against my side.

"Take a good look around at the faces in this room. Look out that window and take a good look at the sky and the sun. It's the last time you'll ever see society and the world that it walks on." Vladimir said as he plunged the knife into the side of my stomach. I cried out as I felt the searing pain radiate throughout my stomach and even my chest. My vision blurred as he pulled the knife out and let it drop to the floor. The clattering of the knife on the floor reverberated inside my head as I began to get dizzy and my sight began to go black. As my knees grew weak and the darkness engulfed me, I heard the cries of my classmates, the roar of an angry and broken Nick, and the menacing laugh of Vladimir. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the face of my mother in front of mine. Her face was troubled and I knew that hell was being brought to Earth. The hell that I would experience while in Vladimir's control, for the rest of what was to be a short life.

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


	6. The Beginning of the End

_**~ Chapter 6 ~**_

 _ **The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the face of my mother in front of mine. Her face was troubled and I knew that hell was being brought to Earth. The hell that I would experience while in Vladimir's control, for the rest of what was to be a short life.**_

* * *

I had no idea how long I had been unconscious for, but I did know that it was long enough for Vladimir and his minions to travel back to the 18th nome with me in their possession. When I came to, I didn't dare open my eyes. If I did, then they would know that I was, in fact, awake and my hell would surely begin. Instead, I listened. I listened for anything that was going on so I could identify the situation and attempt to formulate a plan to escape. I may have accepted my fate but that didn't mean I wasn't going to at least try to get out of this. As I listened, I heard talking coming from one of the corners of the room.

"Is she ready yet? Is she in the condition that we need her in for this to be successful?" Asked Vladimir.

"Yes. She is in the perfect condition for the experiment to begin. The paralyzing agent has been administered and has taken effect. She won't be able to stop you and she should be in such a state that she is too lucid to use her powers as well. She will, however, be able to feel everything that happens to her." Said the unknown man that Vladimir was talking to. I realized as they were talking that everything the doctor said was true. I tried to move my lips or my fingers, but nothing would work. None of my limbs were responding to me. My powers were useless as well. I couldn't concentrate long enough to even think of a power to use or how I could use it. I knew that this was going to be hell and that I would endure a lot of pain, but I didn't know that I was going to be completely defenseless in the process. That worried me.

"Perfect. The only thing to do now is to wait for her to wake up. I want her to remember everything. I want her to see her torturers as they inflict unspeakable pain." Vladimir said as his footsteps became louder. I could only imagine that he was approaching me. My heart began to race and the little control I had over a few parts of me froze and stopped working out of fear.

"Actually, sir, she's awake. She has been for a few minutes. Her brain waves show that her brain isn't in sleep, but is actually active. I believe she is just scared to open her eyes," the unknown asshole said as he blew my cover. It took a whole lot more effort than I thought, but I managed to open my eyes. The first thing I saw when my vision cleared was that I was no longer in my clothes from earlier. I was in a white hospital gown and had IV's hooked up to me. I tried to move my head to look elsewhere, but it was no use. All I could do was open and close my eyes, and I couldn't even do that very well. I narrowed my eyes at the two men in front of me.

"Well, well. The little girl is mad. Trying to be brave in this situation, dear? Well, that won't last long. You won't have an ounce of confidence, will, or sanity left when I'm finished with you, actually, when your tormentors are finished with you," Vladimir said as he and his little sidekick began to laugh. I could hear a door open, although I couldn't see it, and soon enough 2 buff men entered the room.

"These 2 gentlemen here will be your tormentors. You will get to know them very well over the course of your eternal stay here in the 18th nome. Now, you may or may not know why I brought you here, so I'm going to tell you anyway. You are the most powerful magician in all of the nomes. I want to make the 18th nome the most powerful nome in all of the world. I know that you won't serve me and the 18th nome, so this is what I'm resorting to instead. The only thing in this world that could be more powerful than you, is a child. Your child. Your child that you have with another powerful magician that has at least 1 pharaoh line in their blood. Going through the list of magicians, the most powerful magician and the best candidate to be your child's father would be your little childhood friend, Nick. He is quite powerful and does indeed have a pharaoh line in his blood. However, I know that it would be years before you two would have kids and you might not even have them at all. So, I'm forcing it. You are of age and capability of having kids so all that needs to happen is getting you pregnant. Then we would remove the child from you and do a little experiment in which we would attempt to switch the fathers. We already have what we need for that. Stupid teenage boys and their raging hormones which actually came in handy in our situation. All you have to do child is sit back and take what they give you. You are now my slave and will give us magicians even stronger than you are. Too bad you won't ever see them once they are born. Well, that's all you need to know. Have your way boys and make sure she sees it all," Vladimir said as he and his assistant walked off and out of the room.

I was in disbelief. I couldn't believe that that was the entire plan and the entire reason I had been brought here. That's why Vladimir saved me and my mom all of those years ago. He wanted me as his soldier, but my dad kept me from him. I finally understood how everything went together in my life and I was scared. I was already silently crying but I began to silently cry harder as the 2 men from earlier approached me. One of them removed the gown from me and left me completely exposed. I closed my eyes but the other man forced my eyes open and taped them open. I couldn't close my eyes and I couldn't look away. I kept crying as I witnessed and felt everything that the men did to me. In that moment, I wanted to die, but I knew I wasn't going to be that lucky. One thing I knew for sure, there was no more light in my life or at the end of my tunnel. It was gone. All that was left was darkness. Complete and utter darkness.

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


	7. Listen, Sunshine

_**~ Chapter 7 ~**_

 _ **In that moment, I wanted to die, but I knew I wasn't going to be that lucky. One thing I knew for sure, there was no more light in my life or at the end of my tunnel. It was gone. All that was left was darkness. Complete and utter darkness.**_

* * *

 _ **(Zoe's P.O.V)**_

4 weeks...

That was how long it had been since my torture had begun. Not only had I been raped several times, but many other horrible things had happened to me as well. I haven't been given food or water since I arrived here. They instead gave me fluids and nutrients through tubes so they could keep me paralyzed and lucid. They were only giving me enough to survive. In the 4 weeks of my captivity, they had also beaten me, electrocuted me, broken several of my bones, burned me with cigar buds, cut and slashed at my skin, and raped me more times than I could count. They had successfully gotten me pregnant after just a week, but they kept raping me and hurting me for the fun of it. I was just a mere vessel to them. I didn't matter to them. The only thing that mattered was the condition of my unborn baby that was still merely a small fetus.

The second week was when they began the experiment. They removed my fetus and took it away from me. Another method of torturing me was not giving me any anesthetic for these procedures. A few hours later they came back and put the fetus back into me. A day later, they ran tests and said that the experiment had been successful. I was with child and the father of that child was, in fact, Nick's. I don't get why they didn't just artificially inseminate me, but you know, they want to torture me in any way possible, so they went with this method.

I don't know what the date is today. All I know is that it's been exactly 28 days since I've been taken. I had given up on hope. I had given up on everything. I had especially given up in today when my 2 familiar tormenters entered the room and made their way over to me. They both had their way with me, whether they hit me, cut me, or raped me, and then they both left and I was alone with my thoughts and my unborn baby. I didn't want to think anymore. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and never wake up again. I didn't want to bring a child into this world under these circumstances. I didn't want to bring a child into this world with the sole purpose of that child being a weapon against others. I loved my unborn baby. I didn't know why, I couldn't explain it, but I did. Even under the circumstances and how the baby came to be, I still loved them. I guess you could say it was my motherly instincts, but I think it had to do more with the fact that they weren't just mine, they were also Nick's. They had a part of him in them as well. Although it wasn't conventional, the baby was still ours. I wasn't going to let anything happen to OUR baby. Especially when the baby might be the only part of Nick that I could have left in my life.

I knew I couldn't move, but just like I tried every other day, I was going to try to touch my stomach again. I wanted to feel where my baby was. Sure the baby was still really, really small, but it's the thought that counts. I used all of my concentration, will, and energy to try and move my arm. I was ready for the mental let down when nothing would happen, but I was not ready for the hope that surged through me when I actually felt my arm move off of the table. That was when I realized that I wasn't as paralyzed as before. I could move my fingers, my toes, and even my head. I looked to where my IV was with the paralyzing agent and I got extremely excited. The last torturing episode had knocked my IV lose. It wasn't in my arm anymore. The effects were starting to wear off. I couldn't do anything physical, I wasn't in good enough shape to attempt stuff like that, so I decided to settle for a mental approach. I had a few ideas, but only one of them would spur a plan that could actually get me out of here. It was a huge maybe, but it was still worth the shot. I took one last look at my left hand where my last reminder of hope rested on my finger, the ring that Nick gave me when we were kids. A single tear of hope and love trailed down my cheek as I lay my head back on my pillow and closed my eyes.

Here goes nothing...

* * *

 **(Nick's P.O.V)**

4 weeks...

That's how long it's been since Zoe was taken from me at the school. Today was January 22, 2015, and everything was going horribly. No one at school had been the same since the incident. No one talked. No one laughed. People just weren't themselves. Even the bad kids stopped acting up. It's like everyone was just giving up. Granted it is the middle of January and it's freezing outside. I just think that people are still sad and affected by what happened to Zoe. I don't think it helps that we are currently at lunch which is where and when the incident happened exactly 4 weeks ago. I guess I should catch you up on what happened here after she disappeared.

After Vladimir and his crew disappeared with a recently stabbed Zoe, no one moved, no one spoke, no one made a sound. Everyone just sat there. They were in too much disbelief as to what had just happened right in front of them. The only thing that could be heard for a while was the deep, slow breaths of a peaceful, sleeping Sadie in my arms. Everything was silent until I broke. I screamed. And screamed. And screamed. It was just one long, angry release of emotion. I was lucky and Sadie stayed asleep. She didn't even stir. I turned around and faced my friends. They were broken, too. They have no idea what just happened but they were still broken. Trey was the first one to make a move. He got up and came up to me. He started to say something and put his hand on my shoulder, but I moved before he could do so. I had to get out of there before I completely lost it.

"I have to get Sadie back home. I promised Zoe I would." I said as I briskly walked away from Trey, through the lunch tables, and out the high school doors. As soon as I was out of the doors, I duat traveled Sadie and me to her grandparent's flat in London. I walked up to the doors with Sadie in my arms. Before I could even attempt to knock, the door swung open and there stood her gram and gramps, who I hadn't seen in years. They promptly thanked me for Sadie's safe return and had me set Sadie down on her bed in her room. I hastily explained everything to them, the memory being too fresh to recall all of it in such depth so soon. As soon as I possibly could, I made my way out of the door and back into the duat.

This time I traveled to Julius and Carter's last known whereabouts, Sydney, Australia. Soon enough, I found Julius at an Egyptian Museum that was located in the heart of Sydney. I told him what happened to Zoe and Sadie and he was stunned. I felt horrible for the man after everything that he's been through. Giving up his firstborn daughter for her safety, then losing his wife, then getting separated from his youngest daughter, and now finding out that both of his daughters were just kidnapped, although one of them was returned home safely. After a few minutes, Julius finally managed to form a coherent thought. He said that since Sadie wasn't going to truly remember that the event happened and think that it was only dreamt, then Carter shouldn't be made aware. He said that he was going to reach out to old friends and he'd search for her. Before he ran off, he said that he would be in touch.

I have heard from him once, and that was with no news and no hope. Since the incident, I haven't slept. I haven't eaten much and I've been very, very distracted. Every spare moment I've had has been used to try to find Zoe. I've tried everything from ba trips to scrying, to traveling the duat and looking everywhere. Nothing has worked. No leads have appeared. She's just simply gone. I don't know where she is, but I know she's hurting. I can feel it. I've started to think that Zoe was right. I'd never find her and I'd never see her again either.

"Nick, are you okay?" Trey asked as he nudged my arm a bit to get my attention.

"Ya. Ya, I'm good." I replied as I sat up in my chair and leaned forward on the table.

"Dude, you are not okay. You haven't eaten lunch in weeks and you aren't sleeping. Don't even try and say that you have been sleeping because those giant purple bags under your eyes suggest otherwise. We know you miss Zoe. We all do. You're going to have to get over what happened though. You might have to get over her, too." Isaac chimed in. I looked at Isaac astonished. I couldn't believe that my best friend had just said that to me. He just told me to get over the fact that the love of my life had been revealed, kidnapped, and stabbed right in front of my eyes. And he knew exactly what she meant to me. I told all of mine and Zoe's friends her story, our story, and the truth after the incident.

"Get over her. Get over her? Did you seriously just tell me to get over what happened and to get over her like she NEVER EXISTED?" I yelled as I rose from my seat. By the time I was done, I had the attention of the entire cafeteria. I didn't care though. I had been holding it all in and now seemed like a good time to let it go I guess.

"Nick, calm down," Whitnee said as she tried to get me to sit back down in my chair. I swiped my arm away from her grasp and took a step back away from the table and my friends.

"Calm down? You can tell me to calm down when she's safe. I'll calm down when she's back here at this table with us." I screamed as I lost control of my actions, thoughts, and emotions.

"It's been a month. Face the facts! She's not coming back. She even said that she wasn't. Face it, deal with it, and move the fuck on. You're never going to see her again. I hate to be the realist here but no one else is so I get to play the bad guy and break it to you." Isaac said as he rose from his seat as well.

"You don't know her like I do, Isaac. None of you do. She's alive and she's coming back. I know it. I'm done sitting around here and wasting my time when I can be out there searching for her and trying to bring her back." I said as I turned my back on my friends and began to make my way out of the cafeteria. I hadn't gotten but two steps away from the table when she appeared. She was there. Right in front of me. I thought I was insane, but I knew I wasn't when I saw the astounded faces of the other students around me. I reached out to her as my hopes soared, and came crashing down when my hand went right through her. She was an illusion. She wasn't really here, but she was at the same time. It was her consciousness. She would appear to me like this as kids when we hadn't seen each other in a while. I tried to hold it in, but I lost the battle within my self as my tears flowed freely down my face.

"Zoe..." I trailed off as I looked at her. What I saw broke me. She was in a white, tattered hospital gown and looked like a ghost. She had horrible bruises and scars covering her body. Open wounds, healing wounds, and blood stains covered her entire body. She looked tired, hungry, and like there was no life left in her. She looked dead. She took a look around and even examined herself as if she had no idea as to what state she was in. Her dull eyes finally rested on came to rest on mine.

"Nick...," she said softly as she tested her voice, "I don't have much time, so shut up and listen, Sunshine."

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kane Chronicles characters. Rick Riordan does. I do own some of the plot.**_


End file.
